Heather is inviting us to contemplate how transformation and courage can spring afresh for us in these troubling times of global chaos. These reflections are like tealight candles: little reminders of the fire you already carry—the love that lives deep in your bones.

Our community is very special in many ways. One of these is the way that so many have stepped up to help as Terry moves into his well-deserved retirement. Fortunately, he will remain an important part of our community and he will be mentoring the people who are taking over some of his roles.

Terry, our Leader of 14 years retired last week. We wish him a retirement full of the things he loves to do. And we are confident that one of these things will be coming to celebrate liturgy here with us at the TLC. This week we celebrate his contribution.

Communal grieving allows us to metabolize our grief in a way that we can’t access when we grieve alone, in a way that our ancestors knew, that our bones recall.

What did Jesus mean when he said: "Is it not written in your law, that l have said that you are Gods" John 10:13: And of course, there is "Be still and know that I am God". What aspect of ourself is Spiritual and Godly?

This week we will be hearing what it like to be a refugee from people from over 10 different countries. Some are recent arrivals to the US. Others have been in the US for most of their lives. Together, their stories form an intimate portrait of what it means to be a Refugee.

Lesley Syne recently launched her new book, Know Their Names. It concerns itself with the erasure of Aboriginal people from Australian history through examining the Queensland government’s Rewan Police Horse Breeding Station in the Central Highlands. She believes that without truth-telling and an appreciation of the strength and contributions of First peoples, there can be no accurate and shared ground to Australian history.

This Sunday on the eve of National Reconciliation week we celebrate Mabo Day. It is marked annually on 3 June. It commemorates Mer Island man Eddie Koiki Mabo and his successful efforts to overturn the legal fiction of terra nullius, or land belonging to no-one.